A mango can be eater one way or the other—sweet and ripe or immature and green. It can be munched as it is or processed into beverages, jams, pies, salads, appetizers, candies, and ice cream. Sometimes, you just can’t have enough of Philippine-grown mangoes because they are plumper and sweeter in comparison to those from other countries. That’s why it is a leading export product; and thanks to Dr. Ramon Barba, there’s enough mangoes to keep everyone—all over the world—satisfied.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Ramon Barba developed mango flower induction sing potassium nitrate (KNO3). This technology positioned the mango form a backyard desset to a formidable cash crop for the country, reigning in hundreds of millions of dollars in export earnings. For this achievement, Dr. Barba received several accolades, including The Outstanding Young Men Award (1974), IBM-DOST Award (1989), and the DA-Khush Achievement Award (1995).

Ramon Barba earned his degree in .B.S. Agronomy from the University of the Philippines in 1958. He then took graduate studies in plant propagation at the University of Georgia in the US, and gained his doctorate in Horticulture from the University of Hawaii. He has written over 100 scientific papers, Dr. Ramon Barba was elected to the National Academy of Sciencd and Technology (NAST) in 2004 for his various achievements in plant culture. In its citation, NAST considers Dr. Ramon Barba’s work on mango culture as “ . . .a milestone in the study of trepical tree physiology.”